


The Basketball Timeline

by belatedbday69



Category: Brian David Gilbert - Fandom, Polygon/McElroy Vlogs & Podcasts RPF, The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: BDG, Gen, One Shot, Silly, Slice of Life, kid!BDG
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-06
Updated: 2020-03-06
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:33:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,086
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23033266
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/belatedbday69/pseuds/belatedbday69
Summary: When Brian David Gilbert was a kid, he went to his friend's house to watch him finish Ocarina of Time. Unfortunately, his friend couldn't do it so they played basketball instead, creating the timeline where Link fails to beat Ganon.
Kudos: 21





	The Basketball Timeline

The year is 2005. Brian sits at the kitchen table, scrawling doodles over his finished math homework when the phone rings. “I’ll get it!” He lunges for the landline but his mother has already picked it up. 

“Hello?” She sticks the phone between her ear and shoulder as she stirs something hot on the stove. “I’m good! Thank you for asking, Adam, how are you?”

“Adam? What does he say?” Brian jumps to his feet. “Let me talk to him!”

“Shh!” She continues to stir. “Well I’ll ask.” She puts the phone to her chest and turns to Brian. “Do you want to go to Adam’s and… Something to do with an ocarina?”

“Yes! Yes I do!” He bounds off to find his shoes. 

“Wait, Brian! Have you finished your homework?” She calls from the kitchen.

“Yeah!” 

“Really?”

“Yes!”

“Alright, well, be back in time for dinner!”

“Okay!” And with that, he’s out the door. 

* * *

Brian speed-walks down the street, a bit angry with his mom, but not totally sure why. It’s a sunny fall day, but he has nought on his mind other than the elusive Legend of Zelda game, Ocarina of Time. He’s watched Adam play it before on his GameCube, and he even tried to play it a couple times, but never enough to get comfortable with the controls. 

He turns the corner and remembers what his mom said when he’d asked for his own GameCube. “You already have the PlayStation and a Game Boy, what do you need another for? And what happens when a new one comes out next year? Will you want that one, too?” And while Brian protested, he had to admit she made some fair points. Though it didn’t feel fair when he had to share everything with his older brother, Patrick, who hardly ever let him play. 

Brian walks up to Adam’s house and knocks on the door. He can hear the scuffling feet of Adam’s dog, a small, white Bichon Frise named Poppy. The door swings open to reveal Adam, beaming. “Brian! I’ve almost beat it! Come on!” He hurries down to the basement. Poppy follows close behind, nipping at his heels. 

“Wait up!” Brian kicks off his shoes and follows after him, excited to see what awaits at the end of the game. He isn’t unfamiliar with the Legend of Zelda series, as he’d played “The Minish Cap” on his Game Boy Advance. Whatever it is, it’s sure to be an epic battle between good and evil.

He joins Adam on the couch in his furnished basement, set up with a flat-screen television and sound system. Brian tries not to resent Adam, but can’t help wishing he were an only child, too. 

On the screen is a grainy shot of Ganon’s Castle with pixelated Link swinging his sword about. “Oh, you’re grown-up now?” Brian asks, noticing Link's adult form. Poppy jumps up on the couch next to Brian, wagging her tail. 

“Yeah, you can like, switch back and forth.” Adam grabs the controller and moves Link into the castle. “I’m almost there to that middle room, see?” He points at the screen. “There’s just a couple things left.” 

Brian watches enviously as Adam traverses the castle, solving the intricate puzzles step by step. They become fully enthralled in the game, and Brian interjects every so often. “Play Zelda’s Lullaby!” 

“I got it!”

Finally, Adam is ready to enter the final room. Link rolls up the spiral staircase, he-yah-ing all the way. The final room contains Ganondorf and his captive, Princess Zelda. Adam quickly skips through the dialogue. “Come on, come on!!” Brian sits on the edge of his seat as Ganondorf’s laughter booms and the fight begins. 

“Are you two boys doing alright? Why don’t you go outside? Get some fresh air!” Adam’s mom calls from the top of the stairs. Poppy jumps down and runs up to her. 

“Not now, mom! I’m tryna finish this game!” Adam says, not taking his eyes off the screen.

“Alright… Well, it’s a beautiful day out, if you change your mind! How are you doing Brian? Will you be staying for dinner?”

“No, but thank you.” 

“Well we’re having roast beef if you change your mind. It’s my special recipe!” 

"Mom! I’m trying to concentrate!” Adam whines as Link faints and the words GAME OVER appear on the screen.

“Alright, geez! I’ll leave you to your gaming. It’s nice to see you Brian!”

“You too, Mrs. P!” He waves, then turns his attention back to the screen. 

“Here we go.” Adam starts again, but he has a hard time dodging the attacks and it's not long before he’s used his first red potion. Over and over he gets knocked down to the bottom level and has to climb back up.

“Watch out!” Brian shouts, but Link gets knocked out again. He can’t help but think that he’d have an easier time with it, but he doesn’t say anything. 

“Okay, I got it this time.” Adam leans forward over his controller. The fight goes the same, with Ganondorf’s predictable attacks and the slow battle of beating him back. Eventually, Link gets one-shotted and Adam dies again. He whispers profanities quiet enough so his parents don’t hear him. 

“You need potions.” Brian chimes in.

"Right.” Adam warps to Kakariko Village, then sits back, dropping the controller on the couch. “I’m kinda tired of this. You wanna do something else?”

“Sure!” He readily agrees. Although Brian’s really curious about the end of the game, he’s always up for anything. 

They go into the garage where Adam’s dad is working on some kind of mechanic thing. 

"Nice to see you, Brian. Hope you boys are getting into too much trouble!" he teases.

Brian smiles back. "Of course not, Mr. P!"

Adam grabs a basketball. “Wanna play horse?” They walk out onto the driveway in front of the basketball hoop. Adam places himself at the edge of the grass to shoot and misses greatly. Brian retrieves the ball and successfully scores from a closer spot. They tease each other, like boys do, though neither is significantly more skilled at basketball than the other.

The game goes on like this until Adam gets called in for dinner and Brian realizes he should’ve been home half an hour ago. He walks back as the sun sets, happy to have spent some quality time with his friend. Little do they know, their failure to defeat Ganon single-handedly causes a divergence in the Legend of Zelda Timeline.


End file.
